Repeating Tragedy
by roo17
Summary: Luffy's about to die when a stranger named Ace saves him, nearly dying in the process. Shanks explains that the two are reincarnated from famous pirates and every time they're reborn, Ace always dies in order to save Luffy. Full summary inside No pairings
1. Chapter 1: Why?

Repeating Tragedy  
Chapter One: Why?

_**Summary: **__Luffy is about to die when a stranger named Ace saves him, nearly dying in the process. Later Shanks explains that the two are reincarnated from famous pirates and every time they're reborn, Ace always dies in order to save Luffy. Will this pattern continue, or will Shanks and Whitebeard be able to finally stop this repeating pattern of tragedy?  
__**Warnings: AU, ooc.  
**__**Pairings: None! O.O  
**__**Disclaimer: **__If I say I own One Piece, will Oda kill me off too? Oh well, I don't own One Piece. If I did… Ace wouldn't have died, Shuraiya would make random appearances, Whitebeard would also be alive, Akainu would have died by Whitebeard's powers, Blackbeard would have been killed by Ace, Thatch might be alive, Kuina would make a random appearance and scare the hell out of Zoro, Robin's mom is really alive somewhere, AND (this is a guess) I think Dragon and Gol D. Roger are brothers, making Ace and Luffy cousins by blood (why they look alike!) and brothers by a bond and sake. :D_

_**xXxXx  
**_**The wind died, the whole world ceased to move. Now so quiet, her beating heart became a boom. We locked eyes for just a moment or two, she asked why. I said, "I don't know, I just know."  
****-Rise Against (This Is Letting Go)  
**_**xXxXx**_

Luffy didn't understand, everything had moved so fast. Blood dripped onto his face as he stared wide-eyed at the scene before him. He didn't understand… One minute, he was walking down the street when some guy started waving a sword at him. And he tripped and fell to the ground, the sword was plunging towards him, leaving him no time to dodge. So why didn't he feel any pain, and why wasn't he bleeding? He looked up and saw the tip of the sword literally inches from his face with blood dripping down it. He looked past the tip of the sword and saw it protruding through the back of some muscular guy who wasn't wearing a shirt. Then it suddenly dawned on Luffy what happened. As the sword came rushing towards him, he remembered seeing some guy jump in front of him and allowed the sword to past through his chest. But why? Luffy didn't know this man, did he? No, but why did he look so familiar? He attacker jerked the sword free from the stranger before taking off down the street and out of sight. The man coughed and put a hand to his wound before falling back into Luffy's arms. The teen held his savior close with confused eyes. The man had familiar freckled cheeks and lost gray eyes. The tattoo and elbow-pad on his left arm almost sparked something in Luffy's mind but he couldn't quite grasp it. He man looked up at the teen he saved and they just stared for a few seconds. The world became quiet around them, and finally Luffy's eyes teared up.

"Why…?" The man coughed painfully but managed a soft smile nonetheless.

"I don't know why… I just know I had to." Luffy began to panic when he saw the man's eyes start to close and searched his mind to find a way to keep him awake until help arrived.

"W-What's your name?" His eyes opened a little more as he tried hard to focus on the teen above him.

"A…Ace. Portgas D. Ace." Luffy gave a quivering smile.

"Ace, my name is Monkey D. Luffy. Now don't worry, help will be here soon, okay? You're gonna be fine. _You're gonna live_!" The words teared the man's eyes a little, but tears never fell.

"Thank… you…" And he closed his eyes, his breathing growing short and shallow. Luffy panicked, and shook the man's shoulders.

"Oi… Oi! Ace, wake up! Ace! Somebody, help!" Luffy screamed. "Help us!" A red-haired man ran around corner at the shouts, his body tense and eyes full of dread. He stopped dead in his tracks at the scene before him and he felt his heart drop. He wasn't in time again, he couldn't stop it. Luffy spotted him, his eyes calling for help. "Shanks!" The red-haired man made his way to Luffy's side and checked the man he held for a pulse. His heart nearly stopped when he felt one, though it was very weak.

"Give him to me, Luffy." The teen wasted no time with questions and place the stranger in Shanks' arms who immediately took off for the hospital. "Follow me, Luffy!" Several minutes later Shanks and Luffy burst through the hospital doors and called for doctors to help the wounded man. The doctors wasted no time in tending the young man's wounds.

An hour passed and Shanks was growing anxious, pacing back and forth in the waiting room as Luffy stared at the floor. He looked down at his now clean hands, catching the attention of Shanks. The boy had been staring at his hands for a while now and Shanks understood why. After the stranger was taken by the doctors, Luffy's hands had been covered in blood. The redhead's gaze softened and he stopped in front of the quiet teen.

"Luffy?" He called his name quietly and said boy slowly gazed at his friend.

"It all seems so familiar. Like… this has happened before." Luffy furrowed his brows before giving a frustrated sigh. "But I just can't place it. It's driving me crazy!" Shanks gave a quiet chuckle and ruffled the teen's hair.

"Don't worry. I'm sure Ace will be just fine." Luffy gazed at the man with an inspecting eyes.

"How did you know his name was Ace? I only told the doctors that when you went to the bathroom." Shanks suddenly realized the mistake he made but before anything could be said, a doctor entered the room with a clipboard.

"Ace?" Luffy stood up.

"That's for us." The doctor nodded and went through the papers on the board before giving an approved nod.

"Well everything went fine. Ace should be able to leave the hospital in a few days. He won't be awake until morning so no visitors for now, please." Shanks gave a nod and said his thanks, leaving the room with Luffy following close by.

"You have some explaining to do, Shanks," Luffy said as they got into the man's car.

"I know, Luffy. I'll tell you everything when we get back to my place. The ride to the house was quiet and a little uneasy for Luffy, but he refused to break the silence as he thought hard about the man who saved him.

_"Why?" "I don't know why… I just know I had to." _

Why did this man feel like he had to save him? He really didn't understand and hoped Shanks would help clear some things up. They pulled into the driveway and Luffy exited the car, entering the quiet house and plopping himself on his favorite comfy green chair. Shanks entered a minute later, throwing the keys onto the table in the center of the room. He made his way to the kitchen and opened the fridge.

"You want something to snack on or drink?" Luffy gave a quick thought about it.

"A soda and sandwich please." Shanks tossed the items to the teen who caught them with ease, opening the sandwich and immediately started snacking on it. Shanks took a seat on a couch next to the chair Luffy sat in and opened a can of soda. "So how do you know Ace?" Shanks gave a sigh.

"I guess I better start from the beginning. Luffy, do you know much about the beginning of the pirate age?" Luffy gave this some thought. He always was interested in pirates and tended to study them when he could.

"Well, kind of. I just started researching them last month. But I do know that it was Gol D. Roger who started the pirate age."

"Yes, the first pirate king. But have you heard about the second and last pirate king?" Luffy tilted his head slightly, taking a bite of his sandwich. "I'll take that as a no. After Roger, pirates from all over the world searched for the treasure One Piece. And one of those pirates was named Monkey D. Luffy, who later became known as the last pirate king in the world."

**XxXxX  
****And so it begins… And yes, Shanks can drive with one arm! Just thought of this and asked Ivy if she'd help me. And she said yes! :D Thank you Ivy for the ideas and help! So tell us what you think of this so far! And we're still taking requests! Want a crack pairing? Want Luffy as seme? Want a certain pairing in a certain genre? Let us know! We're more than happy to try and please you!**

_The cold ice I liveth and the darkness I love  
__~roo the ice elemental_

_The itchiest thing you'll ever meet  
__~Ivy the Vine_


	2. Chapter 2: The History

Repeating Tragedy  
Chapter Two: The History

**Warning:** Shanks ranting… Sorry! And ooc.

_**xXxXx  
**_**You can't understand what lays ahead if you don't understand the past  
****-Rise Against (Satellite)  
**_**xXxXx**_

Luffy blinked, his sandwich hanging from his mouth as the news registered in his mind. "I'm named after the last pirate king? Awesome!" They hyper boy swallowed before grinning his usual grin. "I'm named after a pirate king~" Shanks sweatdropped. He should have seen something like this coming. The redhead quickly stopped the teen's singing and gave a sigh. This was gonna be difficult for Luffy to understand and Shanks thought of an easy way to summarize everything. Unfortunately, Shanks couldn't think of another except just make everything as simple as possible.

"No, Luffy, you're not just named after that pirate king, you _were_ that pirate king." He got a simple look of confusion and continued before the curious teen had any chances of asking questions. "Over seven hundred years ago, a young teen set sail in hopes of finding the famous treasure One Piece and becoming the Pirate King. He soon had himself a strong screw and found himself having many exciting adventures, risking life and death to fulfill his dream and keep his friends safe from death. It turned out that the teen was the son of a revolutionist named Dragon and was the grandson of a famous admiral named Garp. While he was young, he met a famous pirate in his village and that's how his dream of becoming the next king of the pirates came along. But that child also made a brother, a brother he loved he very much. His brother was powerful, born with inhuman like strength, but thought that he didn't deserve to live because of the blood that ran through his veins. It wasn't until Luffy came along did the brother finally understand life a little more. But years later that brother, that strong unbeatable brother of Luffy's, was soon captured and brought to Marine Ford for execution. Luffy's brother, though, turned out to be none other than the son of the first pirate king, Gol D. Roger, the man Luffy's brother despised.

Hearing the new of his brother's execution, Luffy wasted no time in rushing to his brother's rescue. Whitebeard, the brother's captain and father-figure, also rushed to save his son and soon a war broke out at the execution. Many lost their lives to save their comrade and for a second, it all seemed hopeless. But eventually, Luffy managed to free his brother and they headed for the docks. One of the admirals, Akainu, spoke ill of Whitebeard and Ace turned his attention from escaping to protecting his father's pride. It was a mistake that ultimately cost him his life. Worn from many battles, both of the brothers were at their limit and Luffy collapsed to his knees. Using this opportunity, Akainu went in for the kill… only for the older brother to take the hit instead. In his last moments, Ace found that life was indeed something he loved, and was glad to have been born. He gave his thanks to his brother and comrades before dying in Luffy's arms. Do you know what the brother's name was?" Luffy shook his head, obviously interested in the story. "His name was Ace, Luffy. Portgas D. Ace." Luffy's mouth hung open in shock. "And that pirate who inspired Luffy to go to sea? That was me, Luffy. Red-Haired Shanks."

"What?" Luffy stared, dumbfounded. "S-So you're telling me that…"

"Yes. I'm over seven hundred years old and yet, I remember the day I lost this arm protecting you as if it were yesterday." Shanks rested his hand on his shoulder and seemed lost in thought for a while. "After witnessing his brother's death, Luffy grew stronger, stronger than anyone expected. And within another two years, you made the tittle pirate king."

"_Me?_" Luffy asked, earning a grin from Shanks.

"Yes, you, Luffy. You are the reincarnation of that same teen who became Pirate King. In fact, you and Ace have been reincarnated eight times since then." But then Shanks' face turned from happy to distant and down. "But every time, ever since then, the same thing always happens. You and Ace find each other at young ages, become brothers and go on adventures. Then at some point, as you're about to die, Ace saves you. He always dies in your arms." The redhead gave a sigh. "Me, Marco, and Whitebeard have tried countless times to try and stop the repeating pattern of tragedy, but nothing has worked yet." Luffy found himself standing up and running a hand through his hair. It all made sense now.

_"I don't know why… I just know I had to." "Thank… You…"_

"I understand," Luffy replied. "That's why Ace jumped in front of me, he had the natural instinct to protect me." Shanks nodded.

"But this time may be different. I think the pattern has been broken because Ace survived." The older male stood up, glancing over to the thinking teen. "I need to contact Whitebeard and let him know what's happened. You're welcome to stay here for the night if you want." Luffy gave a nod and Shanks left the room. The teen glanced at his soda before heading to the guest bedroom to get some sleep, the events from earlier that day replaying in his mind over and over.

Morning rolled around and Luffy suddenly found himself in Shanks' car driving to the hospital. He looked around and landed his confused eyes on the older male who grinned. "Still spacing out I see. You've been lost in thoughts all morning."

"Really?" Luffy pulled out his phone and checked the time. "9:04… I've really been spacing out for an hour?" Shanks nodded, pulling into the hospital's parking lot. They usually hyper teen stepped out of the car quietly, his mind still on the strange dreams he had last night. Were they dreams? He started to think about this. Could every dream he ever had really be lost memories of his past lives? Or were they just actual dreams? Was his first life the reason why he was so interested in pirates today? Or was it all coincidence? His head started to hurt as he thought about all the possibilities. Was everything he knew a lie, or just a repeating pattern? So caught up in all of this, he didn't even realize he had made his way into the hospital was now standing in front of Ace's room. He was brought back to reality when Shanks laid a hand on his shoulder and he glanced up at his role model.

"Hey, you gonna be okay?" Luffy gave a small grin a nod. "I'm gonna be outside talking to the others. Take as long as you like, okay?" Luffy gave another nod and Shanks disappeared into an elevator. The teen took a deep breath and entered the room, his eyes landing on the sleeping male. He took a seat next to the man and looked over him. He was wearing one of those hospital gowns and he guessed underneath that, the man's chest was all bandaged. Luffy suddenly guilty, knowing this was his fault, that Ace was injured because of him. How many times had Ace died for him? Eight, nine times? How could he keep sacrificing himself for him? Ace stirred from sleep, slowing opening his eyes only to find them blinded by bright lights. He laid there as his eyes adjusted to the lights, trying to remember where he was and how he got there. He remembered walking down the street with nothing to do as usual when noticed a young teen was being attacked by a weirdo with a sword. And when he noticed that the young teen was about to die, he had the instinct to jump in from the kid and save him. And he did.

"Luffy…" He mumbled. That was the kid's name. He looked to his side and saw Luffy lost in thought. It didn't seem to match the teen, he seemed more like one of those happy-goers who always laughed. Ace raised his hand and stared at his, testing how strong his grip was. It was weak at the moment, weary from the earlier attack. His eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched. Why did he survive? He didn't deserve to live, right? He deserved to die in everyone's eyes, so why was he alive? Luffy broke through his thoughts and noticed Ace staring at his hands with an unreadable expression and suddenly remembered something Shanks told him yesterday.

_"His brother was powerful, born with inhuman like strength, but thought that he didn't deserve to live because of the blood that ran through his veins."_ Then another thing rung through Luffy's mind, something that sounded like it was from one of his many dreams he's had.

_"If it weren't for having a little brother like you to look out for… I would nerve have… even wanted to live… Nobody else wanted me to live, after all… so it's only natural."_

Luffy stared at the male. That was indeed Ace's voice, but was that from a dream? Or was it a memory? "I'm sorry," Luffy said, catching the attention of the freckled male. He lowered his hand gave a small smile.

"Why are you apologizing? It wasn't your fault you were attacked on the street."

"Yeah, but… you were hurt because of me." _'More like nearly killed… again.'_ Luffy thought. Ace just shrugged it off.

"I wanted to protect you. Better me to die than you." Luffy's hands clenched his shorts.

"Have we met before?" Ace thought for a second.

"I don't think so. I'm pretty sure I would have remembered someone like you." Silence fell suddenly and neither of the brothers spoke a word. Luffy ran through his mind for an idea what to say to break the silence while Ace simply stared at the ceiling. Thankfully, Shanks entered the room and made his way over to Luffy's side.

"Hey Luffy, it's time for us to leave." The teen looked up to ask the male why he hasn't explained their history to Ace when he Shanks cut him off. "My friends will explain the situation to Ace, don't worry." The freckled male looked up to the older male.

"What situation?" Shanks grinned.

"You'll find out. My friends are gonna explain everything you'll need to know. Come on, Luffy." As Luffy exited the room, he glanced back at Ace one more time who seemed he didn't want the hyper the teen to leave. Luffy quickly mouthed the words, 'I'll be back,' and Ace gave a nod and small grin. Walking down the hospital hall, Shanks and Luffy headed from the elevators when two men suddenly passed them by. One of the men seemed to have a pineapple-shaped hair style and tired looking eyes. The other one, though, was huge. He had to be 15'2" with a cane in one hand and a rolling IV in the other. He had to bend over just to walk though the 11' tall hallways and Luffy couldn't help but stare. The large man glanced at Luffy and gave a grin underneath his giant white beard before disappearing out of view when Luffy's elevator doors closed.

"Was that Whitebeard?" Shanks nodded.

"Yes, and the man with him was Marco the Phoenix."

"Marco the Phoenix? Why is he called that?"

"Because seven hundred years ago, Marco had eaten a mythical zoan devil fruit, type phoenix. You _do_ know about devil fruit powers, right?" Luffy gave a nod. "Well, did you know you had eaten the Gomu Gomu no Mi? And Ace had eaten the Mera Mera no Mi?" Luffy was surprised by the information. "And Whitebeard, he ate the Gura Gura no Mi, giving him a power enabling him to destroy the world."

"Awesome… Wasn't he the strongest man in the world once?" Shanks gave another nod as they exited the elevator.

"Yes, that's correct. Him and Marco were a couple of the strongest fighters back then, and they are most certainly the two best today. Those two… they've always tried so hard to save their comrade over these past years… I bet they're relieved that this repeat has finally broken off." They exited the hospital and Luffy glanced back at the floor Ace was on once more, feeling a rather strange emotion surge through him. He shrugged it off.

It was probably nothing.

Ace stared at his two new visitors, multiple thoughts running through his mind. Like why the hell did they look so damn familiar? Why was the man on the right so frigid tall and big? And why… _why_ was the other man's hair in the shape of a… _pineapple_? Ace's eye twitched as the two seemed to grin at him, seemingly already knowing what was running through his mind. Whatever this was about, Ace wasn't quite sure if he wanted to get pulled into it.

Little did he know, getting involved with the ordeal was inevitable. He had already been entangled in this mess for more than seven hundred years.

**xXxXx  
****Horrible ending. =.= Sigh, oh well. I know, lot of rambling. sorry bout that. I finally watched a part of Ace's death yesterday, I only watched one minute of it, but it was more than enough to make me cry. His death has been haunting me lately. Seriously, it's almost starting to scare me.**

**Well, I better get going. I haven't been sleeping much lately. Tell me what you think, critics are welcome too. :3 And don't forget! If you have any requests, drop them by~**


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